Tag: Automation

The State of Savings in America

During the recent government shutdown, thousands of federal workers filed for unemployment. While the 35-day shutdown wasn’t the employees’ fault, it did reveal their precarious financial situations.

“It is concerning that government workers with stable employment can’t make ends meet when their next paycheck is late,” says Pauline Paquin, owner of Frugaling.

“Being financially resilient is important because charging your card or resorting to payday loans is very expensive.”

The thing is: These public servants are the rule, rather than the exception. Only 39% of Americans could cover a $1,000 emergency with money from their savings. And, 19% would have to finance an emergency on a credit card, while 17% would have to borrow the money and 13% would have to reduce spending on other things.

Here’s more on the dire state of savings in America — and how you can fight back with better financial habits and a bank that has your back.

The United States of Spending

Wondering how the U.S. is doing when it comes to saving? The numbers should tell you everything you need to know:

The median American household has only $11,700 saved across bank and retirement accounts.

“We live in a society where immediate gratification is something most of us think we deserve,” explains Paquin.

“We work hard, we should treat ourselves. But we fail to see the long term effect of having everything we want right now.”

Those long-term effects can include a minor emergency causing you to lose your car, then your job, then your apartment. Or they can include never being able to retire, and forcing your children to support you in old age.

“Americans struggle to save because we aren’t taught to think about money as a tool to reach our goals,” says certified financial educational instructor Galit Tsadik.

“We think of it as only something to satisfy our immediate needs. There is also this misguided notion that you need to have a lot of money to start saving or that you need to put big chunks away in order for it to be worth it,” says Tsadik.

Three Ways to Save More Money

The truth is: You can start saving money any time, with any amount. Although it may be difficult at first, making saving a habit will pay off in the end.

“By writing down all your purchases and expenses, or inputting them into an app, you can visualize your spending habits and start the process of changing those that keep you from saving… i.e. impulse buys at Target or excessive entertainment spending.”

To do this, she suggests using an app like Mint, which tracks your purchases and alerts you when you’re overspending in a certain category. She also recommends tracking your debt repayment goals through Debt Free.

Speaking of goals, write them down.

“This gives you a sense of purpose. It allows you to set parameters, such as how much you want to save and by when, instead of trying to save with nothing to guide you. That’s when a lot of people get lost and give up,” says Woroch.

3. Start small — and automate

For Tsadik, the financial educator, successful saving is “all about paying yourself first.” She advises setting up a small weekly transfer — maybe just $10 — from your checking account to your savings account.

Wait a few weeks to see if you feel the pain. If you don’t (which I’m betting you won’t!), increase the amount. Wait a few weeks, then rinse and repeat.

“Before you know it, you will have a nice little savings cushion. And you will have gradually trained yourself to live on less and save more without feeling like you are depriving yourself of anything,” says Tsadik.

How Chime Can Help You Save

Ready to kick your savings journey into high gear? You need a bank you can trust — a bank like Chime.

Chime saves you money by, first and foremost, charging zero fees. Given that the average American pays $329 in bank fees each year, that’s a huge perk.

Beyond that, Chime also helps you save money automatically. As a Chime customer, you’ll have two accounts: one for spending and one for saving. Every time you make a purchase with your debit card, we round up the transaction to the nearest dollar — and transfer that amount from your spending to your savings account.

You can also set up automatic savings from your direct deposits, funneling up to 10% of every paycheck into your savings account. If your biweekly paycheck is $2,000, that means you’d save $5,200 in a single year. Imagine what you could use that for: an emergency cushion, a Roth IRA, or a seed fund for a house.

As Tsadik says: “Money should never be the end goal — it is what we use to get us to our end goal. When you save, you are building a financial foundation so that you can accomplish your dreams and live the life you desire!”

How This Millennial Side Hustled to Millionaire Status

By Ashley Eneriz

March 11, 2019

You can call him king of the side hustle, but he will answer to Grant.

Grant Sabatier, 34 and a self-made millionaire, attributes his five-year rise to success to side hustling. Yes, he really side-hustled his way out of $30,000 debt and racked up one million plus insavings while working a 9-to-5 job.

But Sabatier, who runs Millennial Money, wasn’t always so money savvy. Not too long ago, his life looked like that of many millennials. In 2010, he lost his office job and moved back in with his parents with only $2.26 in hisbank account. During this time, he applied to more than 200 jobs with no bites – not that he wanted to return to cubicle life.

The Google Searches That Changed Everything

Sabatier turned to Google for answers. And, his search for the best money books led him to Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez.

“I read the book and it completely changed my life,” he says.

“One of the co-authors, Joe Dominguez, actually retired at the age of 30, and it was so mind-blowing. I’d never heard of anything like that.”

Google also led him to the discovery of Google ads. He discovered that running Google campaigns for others was profitable. With the power of YouTube, he learned everything he could.

“The fastest path, I think, to six figures is just to get Google AdWord certified. Google offers a free certification exam, and it’s amazing. I mean, that’s how basically I made all of my money,” says Sabatier.

Not only did his new skillset earn him a digital marketing job in Chicago, but it was the foundation of his side hustle success.

The Many Side Hustles of Sabatier

Running one side hustle is a huge time commitment. Balancing 11 to 14 of them might be downright crazy, but that was Sabatier’s life at one point.

“I was working literally all the time,” he says.

He basically worked late at his digital marketing job to learn more from co-workers. He would then start his side business work after that and work as late as he could. He committed his weekends to the hustle, too.

“About three months in, I got my first side hustle gig, which was building a $500 website for a lawyer,” Sabatier says.

During this time, he started his own digital marketing agency. He also launched a second agency with two others. His businesses grew fast. Three months after his first $500 website, he sold his first $50,000 website.

“By the end of that first year, even though my full-time salary was $50,000, I’d made over $300,000.”

A Closer Look at Successful Side Hustles

You don’t need a dozen side hustles to see financial results. The majority of Sabatier’s side business income came from one area – SEO and digital marketing consulting. Here is a deeper look at his most successful gigs.

SEO and Digital Marketing

Since the beginning, Sabatier booked jobs in this niche. Yet, while his early start in the field proved lucrative, there are now scores of SEO experts for hire and competition is stiff. Does Sabatier still think this is a side hustle to pursue?

“Oh absolutely, I mean the Internet’s not slowing down. Certainly, areas are more

competitive than they were before, but demand just continues to grow for these skillsets.”

“That’s an important thing to note. Because just working to get a job is different than building a skillset that’s going to help you for the rest of your life. Having a diversity of skillsets in the digital space is setting you up for jobs that don’t even exist yet,” he says.

Domain Reselling

One of Sabatier’s favorite side hustles is buying and flipping domain names. He purchases domains from GoDaddy’s website and through auctions, and then sells them for a higher price. No website building required here.

“It’s very hard to buy a one-word domain now, but you can still buy two-word domains.”

He suggests combining two popular words and to stick with dot com names. How does he know which domains to buy? “It helps to really specialize in a niche that you know,” he says.

While Sabatier specializes in money and higher-ed domains, he is savvy when it comes domains in any industry. While watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians with his wife, for example, he noticed the way Kanye West was looking at Kim in her Miami store.

“You could just tell how smitten he was with her,” he says. “I was like, oh they’re totally going to date. So, I got on my phone and bought kimandkanye.com and kanyeandkim.com.”

While he can’t disclose how much he made on those sales, you can bet there were a few zeros attached to the price.

Other Side Hustles

You would need a book to detail all of Sabatier’s side hustle adventures. Speaking of books, Sabatier’s bookFinancial Freedom has a step-by-step framework to pitch, launch and grow a profitable side hustle.

For brevity’s sake, here is a list of some of his other hustles, besides Google campaigns, domain buying and selling, and building websites:

Concert and event ticket flipping

Dog walking

Launching a blog

Campers and moped flipping

Freelance white paper writing

Selling prospect leads to law firms

Words of Wisdom

“A side hustle’s a great thing to do if you have debt. People focus way too much on the debt that they have, and it stops them from going out and making more money,” says Sabatier.

“There’s a limit of how much you can cut back, but there’s not a limit to how much

money you can make. And so, you should spend your time trying to make more money.

The net ROI of that is going to be significantly higher than just cutting back over the long

term.”

On that note, go forth and side hustle.

How to Get Ahead If You’re Behind on Your Car Payments

By Kim Galeta

March 6, 2019

Buying your first car is almost like a rite of passage. You’re officially an adult!

But then reality sets in. Having a car payment is a big responsibility and, with your other financial burdens (AKA student loans), things can get stressful – fast. In fact, you may find that you are falling behind on your car payments.

This can be especially frightening because if you can’t make your payments, you run the risk of your car being repossessed by the lender. And, this can seriously hurt your credit.

What to Do If You’re Temporarily Behind on Car Payments

If you’ve recently faced tough times financially but expect to be back on your feet within a month or two, then your best bet is to negotiate with your lender. Kristy Runzer, CFP® and Founder of OnRoute Financial says it’s important to explain your situation in a clear and succinct way.

“Let them know you want to pay this loan back and that you would like to work together to find a solution. This will show lenders you’re serious and not trying to just skip out on the loan,” says Runzer.

After all, the last thing any lender wants is to spend time and resources to repossess your car. This is a lose-lose situation for both you and the lender. Runzer explains that by being proactive, you may be able to negotiate with your lender to extend your payment due date or extend the life of the loan to lower your monthly payment amount.

“Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. The worst case scenario is that they say no to your request, but they will usually be able to offer some alternative solutions,” says Runzer.

What to Do If You Can’t Afford Your Payment for the Foreseeable Future?

If you’ve found yourself in a situation where it’s going to be tough to make your monthly payment, Bola Sokunbi, CEO and founder of Clever Girl Finance, says to consider one of these options:

Trade in your car for a cheaper model.

If you have too much car for your budget, you may be able to downsize for a more affordable model. However, be sure to check if the trade-in value of your car will be enough to cover the full amount of the original loan. If the value isn’t enough, you may be on the hook for extra payments on the original amount. This is why it’s so important to read the fine print and crunch the numbers before you agree to any new terms.

Consider going without a car…at least temporarily. “Take a full assessment of where you live. You may be able to get rid of your car altogether [if you are not upside down on your loan] and leverage public transportation,” says Sokunbi, also a certified financial education instructor. Other options include biking to work or carpooling with your co-workers. In fact, some companies may offer incentives for employees who walk, bike or take public transportation to work.

Buy a cheaper car for cash. Sokunbi says that you can “absolutely find a reliable enough vehicle for between $3,000 and $5,000 that will get you from point A to point B.”

It may take you a few months to save up to make this purchase, but then you will only have to worry about your auto insurance payment instead of a hefty car payment as well. Plus you’ll benefit from having peace of mind — and you can’t put a price-tag on that.

Genius tip: Find a side hustle to accelerate your savings goal. There are so many options out there from selling plasma to teaching English online to turning your spare bedroom into an Airbnb. Just a few hours a week could totally transform your finances within a few short months!

Improve Your Credit

Sokunbi explains that a lack of credit history is a contributing factor of high car payments for some millennials. However, by taking steps to build up your credit score, you’ll have a lot more options to choose from that will be easier on your pockets.

“With an improved credit score, you can expect to benefit from a better interest rate which will save hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the life of your car loan,” says Sokunbi.

This option worked well for me a few years ago. When I bought my first car in 2013, my car payment was $405 per month. Although I earned a relatively good salary at the time, when coupled with my student loan payment and rent, I didn’t have much of a disposable income at the end of each month. It took me about six months to build up my credit score by strategically opening a few credit cards and keeping my credit card utilization ratio below 10 percent. After that, I was able to work with my lender to reduce my payments to $300 based on my improved credit score. This, in turn, gave me much more wiggle room in my budget.

Next Steps: Steer Your Finances in the Right Direction

Once you get a handle on your car situation, then it’s time to take control over the rest of your finances. An excellent starting point is to pay yourself first. This means you pay yourself each time you get a paycheck – even before you pay your bills. It might sound like a strange concept but it’s a huge game changer for anyone who wants to get ahead with their money. Paying yourself first helps you prioritize your financial goals so that you can get on a path to financial security!

How to Invest Small Amounts of Money

By Melanie Lockert

February 22, 2019

When you think of investing, you might think of wealthy finance types or people straight out of The Wolf of Wall Street.

But, in reality, everyone can invest for the future, and you don’t have to have a ton of money to do so. We’ve scoured the web for some great resources and found these 10 best ways to invest small amounts of money. Read on to learn more.

1. Invest with a robo-advisor: $10

If you’re not sure how to start investing, try a robo-advisor. A robo-advisor is an online investing platform that can help manage your money.

When you get started, Betterment will ask you what you’re investing for — such as retirement or a down payment on a house. After that, based on your goals and risk tolerance, Betterment will create a custom portfolio for you. You can get started at Betterment.com.

2. Invest your spare change: $0.01+

When you make a purchase, it can feel like your spare change isn’t that important. But we know that small amounts of money can add up fast. That’s why Chime offers a round up savings program.

Applying this same philosophy to investing, you can invest your spare change with Acorns, a micro-investing platform that takes your change and builds a portfolio for you. And, investing your spare change with Acorns will only cost you one dollar per month.

Through Acorns, you invest with exchange-traded fundsand the company will build a portfolio based on your financial goals.

3. Invest in certificate of deposits (CDs): $0-1,000

One way to invest small amounts of money with not-so-much risk is through certificates of deposit (CDs). According to Investor.gov, “A certificate of deposit (CD) is a savings account that holds a fixed amount of money for a fixed period of time, such as six months, one year, or five years, and in exchange, the issuing bank pays interest. When you cash in or redeem your CD, you receive the money you originally invested plus any interest. Certificates of deposit are considered to be one of the safest savings options.”

You can typically get certificates of deposit from a bank or financial institution. The minimum investment may vary but could be between $0-$1,000. Though CDs are considered safer and less risky, it also means they don’t have as high returns as other investment vehicles.

4. Invest with Prosper: $25+

Online loan marketplaces bring borrowers and lenders together. One such marketplace is Prosper. Through Prosper, you can invest $25 as a minimum per loan. These personal loans are offered to creditworthy borrowers and you can earn around 5.4 percent, according to the historical average. The best part is that you can get your earnings deposited into your account each month. While this comes with a moderate level of risk, it may not be as volatile as the stock market. Get started on Prosper.com.

5. Invest in social good: $50

What if you could invest money to support causes you care about? Well, you can do this through impact investing. Impact investing, aka socially responsible investing, allows investors to support causes like green energy, clean water, gender equality and more.

Using Swell Investing, you can begin growing your money and supporting causes you love with an initial deposit of $50. There’s a 0.75 percent annual fee and there are no trading fees or expense ratios. While there is risk with any type of investing, at least this way you know your money is supporting something you care about.

6. Invest based on themes: $250

Investing can be confusing, but it becomes simpler when you focus on a specific theme that you care about. Motif Investing offers you a way to invest in specific thematic portfolios such as technology or sports. You do need a bit more money than some of the other options here, with an initial investment of $250.

7. Invest in fractional shares: $5

Investing doesn’t have to cost a lot of money! That’s certainly true with Stockpile, where you can start investing with just five dollars. You can buy fractional shares of stocks and exchange-traded funds. There are no fees or minimums and it’s 99 cents per trade. There are also mini-lessons, so you can learn as you go instead of waiting to invest when you have everything figured out. Get started at Stockpile.com.

8. Invest in low-cost index funds: no minimum

Index funds can have lower costs and can offer more diversification. While investing in the stock market can be risky, diversification of index funds can help manage risk. Fidelity, for example, offers the ability to invest in index funds with no minimums and no account fees.

9. Invest in your retirement with a IRA: no minimum

You may or may not have a 401(k) with your employer. But anyone can invest for their retirement with a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account).

Using a brokerage firm, you can set up a retirement account and begin investing in your retirement immediately.

As of 2019, the contribution limit for IRAs is $6,000 per year. While the main tax difference is paying taxes now (Roth) or paying later (Traditional), there are income limits with a Roth IRA. To invest the full amount in a Roth IRA, your income must be less than $122,000 for single filers.

10. Invest in a 529 College Savings Plan: $25

If you have children, you can invest in a 529 College Savings Plan to help save for their education. Using an app like U-Nest, you can open an account with just $25. U-Nest costs three dollars a month and takes five minutes to set up on your phone. You can get started at U-nest.com.

Additional resources: How to invest small amounts of money

Using these 10 ways to invest small amounts of money, you can start growing your money today. Here are some additional resources you may want to check out:

How to Be Financially Productive in the Winter

By Robyn Parets

February 12, 2019

If you live in many parts of the country, the winter seems to drag on. Instead of weekends at the beach or picnics in the park, you may be stuck inside, huddled in front of a fire and binging on yet another Netflix series.

But why not use these cold days to be financially productive? To help you figure out ways to improve your finances during the winter, take a look at these four tried-and-true tips.

1. Organize your taxes

Before you let out a long groan, we’re right there with you: Preparing your taxes is no fun. But, wouldn’t you rather be doing this now – when it’s dark by 6 pm and freezing outside – than in April when you could be having fun in the sun?

So, take the time now to organize your necessary tax forms, fill out a tax organizer, itemize any tax deductions, and figure out how much you can contribute to a retirement plan. If you have a salaried job and received a W-2 form, your tax prep may be pretty straightforward. But if you have a side hustle or are self-employed, your tax organization may take a bit longer. The key here is: Don’t wait until April 14 to file your taxes by the April 15 deadline. Besides, if you get ahead of the game, you can get your refund sooner.

Pro tip: Open a Chime bank account and get your tax refund via direct deposit. All you have to do is select “direct deposit” on your online tax return software and fill in your Chime Spending Account and routing number. As soon as your refund is automatically deposited into your account, you’ll receive a text alert and email from Chime. Cha-ching!

2. Audit your bank account and find ways to save

I don’t know about you, but I am much more eager to be out of the house when the weather is warm. So, what to do on a day when you just don’t feel like braving the harsh weather? Audit your bank account and see where you can save money. This way you’ll have more cash for a summer road trip, your emergency fund or your other savings goals.

Start by spending an hour on a cold winter day and looking through your monthly spending for the past three months (or elect to audit just the past month or some other time frame.) Take a close look at what you’re spending money on and where you’re spending it. Even if you think you know exactly how you spend your cash, you’ll be surprised by what you discover.

Here are a couple of examples of what I found on a recent bank account audit: My cable bill had crept up for the past three months, my spending on groceries seemed out of whack, and I still had my husband on my gym membership even though he never goes.

It was time to do something about this. So, I ended up switching from my cable provider to a fiber-optic network (long story short: we can’t cut the cable or fiber optic cord entirely because my husband won’t give up his local sports channels.) This will save us $50 a month right off the bat. Not only that but the new provider threw in a free year of Amazon Prime, Amazon Echo and two $50 Visa gift cards. Score!

As for the high grocery bills, I decided to try a meal delivery service with a discount code for $80 off the first month. I loved it so much much that I’m now paying the regular $55 a week for three meals a week. But, get this: I was spending $600 a month on groceries for my husband and I. That is now reduced to $250 a month. Add to that $220 per month for the meal service. This means our monthly grocery nut is now $470 a month, a $130 savings each month! Plus, cooking at home is now easier and more convenient, so we don’t order takeout or go out to dinner nearly as frequently. And you guessed it: This saves us even more money.

Lastly, I called my gym and removed my husband from my membership, saving me $30 a month. That’s what I call easy money in the bank.

The takeaway: You can find ways to save money on a cold winter day – simply by spending an hour auditing your bank account.

3. Budget better

Is your budget working for you? If not, don’t give up. There are lots of budgeting methods and the one you’re using now may not be a good fit for you.

What to do? Spend an afternoon researching different types of budgeting methods, including the 50/30/20 budget, the envelope method, and the zero-based budget. Figure out whether a different kind of budget would work better for your spending and savings habits. Factor in whether you need to save more money into an emergency fund or free up cash to pay down your debt. Think of this time of year as a great opportunity to dive in and make any necessary changes to your budgeting method.

4. Automate your savings

By now you’ve probably heard a thing or two about the benefits of automating. But are you taking advantage of this?

If not, sit down and implement simple financial changes that will allow you to automate your money, enabling you to save more cash without even thinking about it. For example, now may be a good time to switch to a bank that will help you level up your savings account. If you’re a Chime member, for instance, all of your purchases on your debit card can be rounded up to the nearest dollar. And this round up amount is then automatically deposited into your Savings account. On top of this, Chime will automatically deposit 10% of your paycheck into your Chime Savings account.

Chill out

We get it: Winter can be miserable. But instead of complaining about the weather, you can turn those cold, snowy days into financial opportunities. By following the four tips here, you’ll be able to get your tax refund sooner, create a budget that works, and find new ways to save money. And just think: Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying the spring with less financial stress!

How Chime Offers No Fee Checking Accounts

By Robyn Parets

February 3, 2019

You’ve probably heard the adage Nothing in Life is Free. Well, we’re here to debunk this. Did you know that you can get a free Chime checking account with no fees?

Chime is a mobile-only bank account that helps you save money automatically and manage your finances from anywhere. Now one of the fastest growing bank accounts in the U.S., Chime offers members a Spending Account, an optional Savings Account, and a Chime Visa® Debit Card. Rated the “Best Free Checking Account of 2018” by NerdWallet, Chime is on a mission to eliminate bank fees while empowering you to take control of your finances and save money.

Those pesky fees add up – fast. Did you know that the average U.S. household pays over $329 in bank fees annually, and that most Americans haven’t switched to a checking account with no fees? Pretty remarkable, right? If you’re ready to make the switch and kiss those fees goodbye forever, take a look at 5 reasons why Chime offers a no fee checking account, and how you can benefit.

1. Chime is committed to helping you get ahead financially

When you have to pay monthly fees just for having a checking account, this doesn’t help you pocket your hard-earned cash. Instead, banks profit off of you and Chime would rather profit with you. So, instead of charging you fees – like most traditional banks – Chime has turned the banking industry on its head. It makes no money off your no fee Spending Account, allowing you to keep all of your cash. How does Chime make money? Good question. Here’s the answer: Every time you use your debit card, Chime earns a small amount from Visa (paid by the merchant.)

2. Chime offers an awesome banking alternative to big banks

Did you know that the five largest banks in the U.S made more than $34 billion in overdraft fees alone in 2017? Chime, along with other challenger banks, want to change this with no fee checking accounts and debit cards that empower you to save money. Yet, regardless of where you bank, here’s a tip from Chime: Be sure to learn about any fees you may have to pay, including overdraft fees, savings account fees, account maintenance fees, foreign transaction fees, and more. And if you want a bank that will never rely on unfair bank fees for profit, Chime is here for you.

3. Chime offers a Spending Account that suits your lifestyle

With a Chime no fee checking account, you can do all of your banking right from the modern and intuitive mobile app. This includes depositing checks on the go, paying friends, transferring funds, paying bills and even mailing checks. Here’s how these main features work:

Mobile Check Deposit

To deposit a check, all you need to do is snap a quick photo with Chime’s mobile banking app, and then sit back and watch your account balance grow. No need to fill out a deposit slip, go to a brick-and-mortar bank or ATM, wait in a bank teller line, and write out a paper check and put it in the mail. You can deposit checks from anywhere in the world. Easy peasy.

Pay Friends

With a Chime Spending Account, you can send money instantly to friends and family, even to those that aren’t yet Chime members! Using the Pay Friends feature, you can divide up rent payments or split the bill when out to dinner with friends. And, you’ll never pay fees.

Automatic Savings

Now that you love your Spending Account, it’s time to automatically grow your savings with the Save When I Get Paid or Save When I Spend features. Automatically save 10% of your paycheck into your Chime Saving Account with Save When I Get Paid. You can also automatically round-up your purchases and save the different into your Savings Account with Save When I Spend.

Pay Bills Electronically

Using Chime’s bill pay feature, you can pay your bills, track your expenses, and keep tabs on your balance from the mobile app on any device. You can even leave your wallet at home when you go shopping as Chime supports mobile payment apps like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

Mail a Check

We know mailing checks is old school. But, sometimes you gotta do it and Chime makes this task simple. It even puts the check in the mail for you. That’s right. If you have to mail a check, you can do this through the mobile app. All you have to do is let Chime know who to send a check to and for how much. Chime will then make sure your check gets to where it needs to be. Now this is what we call the best kind of virtual personal assistant.

4. Chime offers easy access to your money

While Chime is a mobile-only bank with no brick-and-mortar locations, this doesn’t mean you’re limited when it comes to ATMs. In fact, just the opposite is true. You can use your debit card to withdraw money from your no fee checking account at over 38,000 fee-free ATMs. In addition, you can use 30,000 plus cash-back locations.

Chime is part of the MoneyPass® and Visa Plus Alliance ATM networks, with locations throughout the United States. You can use the mobile app to find an in-network free ATM and then use your debit card to withdraw cash without fees. Now that’s convenience to the max.

5. Chime helps you save automatically

Now that we’ve explained Chime’s mission to help you save money with no fee bank accounts, it’s time to break down some of the key ways in which you can keep more of your money, while boosting your savings. And, remember, these money-saving features from Chime cost you nothing in fees and will help you save money without even thinking about it. Take a look:

Save When I Spend

With Chime, you can save money every time you make a purchase or pay a bill with your Chime debit card. The Save When I Spend feature automatically rounds up your transactions to the nearest dollar and transfers the round-up from your Spending Account into your Savings Account.

Save When I Get Paid

This automatic savings feature allows you to save money with every paycheck. This way you can reach your financial goals faster. If you’re a Chime member, you can automatically transfer 10% of every paycheck directly into your Savings Account.

Get paid up to two days early with early direct deposit

Getting your paycheck early means you’ll have two more days to do more with your money. When you open a no fee checking account with Chime, you can set up direct deposit two ways: you can request an email with a pre-filled direct deposit form that you can give to your employer, or set it up yourself using the Account and Routing numbers listed in your Chime app. No waiting for your money while it sits in some mysterious electronic limbo, and no more worrying about lost paper checks. You’ll get your cash two days before most other traditional banks make the funds available to you. The waiting game is over!

Are you ready to open a no fee checking account?

If you’re currently paying bank fees, this means you are paying your bank for the right to hold onto your money. Ridiculous, right?

Yet, you have a choice. You can switch to a no fee bank account. Signing up for a Chime account takes less than two minutes and there is no minimum balance required to open a no fee checking account. What are you waiting for?

The Psychology of Savings – Why It’s So Hard and 5 Things We Can Do About It

Since you’ve probably heard stats like this before, you may already know we humans are terrible at saving money. Why, though? For starters, there are a myriad of societal and economical factors like low wages, higher costs of living, insane student loans, and so on. But, what’s the real root cause of our inability to save? And how can we combat our natural tendencies to finally start investing in our future?

Here’s what psychology says — and how you can use it to get ahead with your own finances.

Why We’re So Bad at Saving Money

It all goes back to when we were living in tribes, according to Ted Klontz, a financial psychologist and professor at Creighton University.

Since tribes operated communally, keeping something you didn’t currently need made you look selfish — and could eventually get you kicked out. Which meant you didn’t pass on your DNA. Similarly, if you saved your food from one day to the next, you could get sick and die. Which, again, meant you didn’t pass on your DNA.

Even 100 years ago, humans were more communal, with several generations pooling resources under the same roof. We also only lived into our 40s, meaning we didn’t need to worry about surviving multiple decades without working.

While Klontz notes a small portion of humans — between 14% and 17% — are natural savers, it’s plain to see why the rest of us simply aren’t wired that way.

How Traditional Financial Institutions Exploit Us

Traditional banks and credit card companies are well aware of the statistics. In fact, their business models thrive on that knowledge.

Klontz says credit cards, in particular, have created an “artificial bottom.” When older generations didn’t have any money, they couldn’t buy anything. But today, you can put it on plastic. And when you do, the issuing bank will charge you an interest rate — often as high as 22%.

“They’re making money off you spending more than you have,” Klontz says.

Financial institutions also charge exorbitant fees for making small mistakes, essentially profiting off your sheer human-ness.

Although no-fee banks do exist, Chime’s Bank Fee Finder found the average American household pays $329 in bank fees annually. In 2016, the big banks earned $33 billion in overdraft fees alone.

Five Ways to Finally Start Saving Money

Ready to combat both your brain and the big banks to finally start saving?

Before you do that, you should know that your subconscious brain makes 90% of your decisions without you realizing it, according to Klontz. And that part of the brain, he says, hasn’t “received a programming update for 100,000 years.”

So, to bypass your subconscious brain, you’ll need to speak its language. It won’t respond to logic or equations or charts; it’ll only respond to fear and pleasure. That’s right: You literally need to scare or excite your subconscious brain into submission.

Here are five ways to do so.

1. Use all five of your senses

Did your third-grade teacher hang a goal chart in your classroom? Maybe it was a “good behavior thermometer.” When you reached the top, you had a pizza party. Or maybe it was a poster that showed how close you were to reaching your reading goals.

As it turns out, those visual depictions are very effective.

“Your subconscious brain doesn’t get abstract concepts,” explains Klontz. “It’s very literal — like a 6 or 7 year old.”

Translation? “Any work to change the subconscious has to be sensory. It has to go beyond words,” he says.

So, if you’re saving for a trip to Peru, you could sketch a picture of Machu Picchu. You could listen to some Peruvian flutes. You could visit a local ceviche restaurant. You could tell your co-workers the myriad reasons you’re dying to visit.

The more you can see, touch, hear, smell, and taste your goal, the more likely you are to pursue it, says Klontz. That’s because each new sensory experience reminds your subconscious why you’re saving money in the first place.

2. Scare yourself

While retirement might seem far away, the sooner you start saving, the better off you’ll be.

To spur yourself into action, think about what would happen if you don’t save a dime. Picture the worst-case scenario for the last three weeks of your life. Where are you? Who’s there (and who’s not)? What does it smell like?

It’s probably not pretty. And by imagining it, you’ll stimulate your subconscious brain into changing its behavior — especially if you also picture the decisions that led you there.

Taking it a step further, Klontz recommends using age progression software like the free AgingBooth app (iOS / Android).

“When you take a 30- or 40-year-old person and show them what they’re going to look like at 70 or 80, their savings rate increases dramatically — up to 200%,” he explains.

3. Automate your savings

Another way to trick your brain is to, well, not really involve it all. By turning your savings on auto-pilot, you’ll relieve your subconscious brain of its decision-making duties.

4. Find a buddy

Kingsbury suggests finding a friend who is also trying to build better financial habits, and then challenging her to a saving contest. Whoever saves the most by the end of a certain period will be crowned the winner. This strategy transforms society’s current definition of “winning” (flashy car, bigger house) into a more fiscally responsible one (saving more money).

5. Put your values on the line

Name an organization you truly loathe. Perhaps it’s the campaign fund for a politician you oppose, or an advocacy group for a cause you disagree with.

Whichever organization it is, sit down and write a $100 check to it. Then give that check to a trusted friend. Tell him if you don’t save, say, 10% of your paycheck this month, he has your permission to mail it. (If you don’t have a checkbook, you can use an app like stickK.)

Since Klontz says negative emotions have “twice the motivating effect” as positive ones, this “anti-charity” technique can be powerful.

Today’s the Best Day to Start Saving

While you can blame your struggles to save on your internal software, you can’t use your brain as an excuse forever.

It’s never too late for a fresh start, so use the tips above to circumnavigate your subconscious — and set yourself up for future financial success.

Daily, Weekly, Monthly Habits to Help Your Finances

By Jackie Lam

January 28, 2019

Just like dirty laundry that tends to pile up if left unintended, keeping your financial house organized can feel like a gargantuan task. As my former boss used to say before we tackled a huge project: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Here are a handful of simple habits you can form, in both in the short- and long-term, to improve your financial situation on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Read on to learn more.

Daily: Check Your Balance

Checking your bank balance achieves several goals: You can check for fishy transactions, make sure your transactions are accurate, and glean insights on your spending patterns and habits. More importantly, keeping tabs on your bank account balance can help you see if you’re in financial hot water or if you’re in danger of incurring overdraft fees. No bueno.

I check my bank balance through a bank app every morning. It takes all but five seconds, and gives me an idea of how much I have left to spend until the end of the month.

Daily: Auto-Save

While you technically only need to set up recurring transfers once, setting your savings to auto-pilot is something that will help you with both short- and long-term goals. I auto-save for pretty much everything: vacations, musical instruments, writing retreats, a down payment for a car, and so forth. I even auto-save into a splurge fund that I use to spend on whatever I darn please. Setting this up is easy and only takes a few minutes. Even five dollars a week adds up to $260 a year. And trust me, that money can certainly come in handy down the line.

Speaking of this: If you’re a Chime member and set up direct deposit, you can even auto-save a percentage of your paycheck.

Weekly: Create a Weekly Spending Plan

Behavioral economics have shown that you’ll gain greater control over your finances if you review your budget weekly. Because you’re dealing with fewer transactions, it’s more manageable to see what is coming in and out of your accounts. And even though a lot of bills are paid monthly, breaking up your budget into weekly increments will help you anticipate and predict your expenses. What’s more, if you get paid bi-weekly, you may have less money the second week than the first.

I budget for everything the week ahead. If I know I’ll be going out for dinner or out with friends for happy hour, I’ll factor this in and scale back on, say, how much I spend on groceries that week.

Here’s another idea: Set aside a certain amount for your recurring, predictable bills. Then divvy up the remainder for your discretionary spending. Over time, you’ll be able to gauge how much you roughly spend each month for groceries, gas, eating out, entertainment, personal items, and so forth.

Weekly: Commit to Changing One Small Thing

What’s one minor adjustment you can make to improve your finances? It might be brown-bagging it to work a few days out of the week, or perhaps taking public transit. Spend a tad too much time on Instagram following your favorite influencers and brands? Try unfollowing for a month and see if you can rein in your purchases.

Small changes I’ve made include creating a “want” list of items I’d like but don’t necessarily need. Then I wait about a month to see if I’m still feeling the urge to splurge. I’ve also stopped eating out while I’m out and about on my own. Instead, I’ll typically dine out with company.

Monthly: Do a Budget Check-In

While it’s best to create a spending plan every week, check in at least once a month to see what tweaks you can make it the coming months. For instance, last year I realized I’m far better off paying for a series of yoga classes than joining a gym. And because I rarely used my Deskpass subscription, which is the ClassPass equivalent of co-working, I canceled my membership.

Monthly budget check-ins also help you plan for one-off expenses, like insurance premiums and spending over the holidays.

Monthly: Go on a Money Date

Carve out some dedicated time each month to go on a money date—either with yourself or with a partner or friend. It’s a great time to check on the progress of your goals and envision what you ultimately want. You can even populate a vision board with what you want to achieve with your money. For example, maybe you want to take time off to work on a passion project, manifest a magical vacation to Bora Bora, or purchase your first house.

Money dates are also a great time to iron out challenges. If you anticipate a rough financial patch, drum up solutions on how you can get through the coming months. Or, if you and your partner disagree about your financial goals, a money date is a good time to hash things out.

Monthly: Autopay Your Bills

If you can swing it, set up autopay on as many bills as possible. Of course, that’s far easier if you have a steady paycheck. If you’re a freelancer or gig economy worker, and get different income at varying times, consider syncing up your bills to retainer clients. For instance, let’s say you’re a freelance graphic designer. You have one client who pays you a certain amount each month, and the money typically drops into your bank account on the 15th of the month.

Another tactic? Get ahead one month on your bills. This means that by the end of any given month, you’ll have enough cash in your account to cover the next month’s bills. While this seems like a tall order, you can get started by saving up a month’s worth of living expenses to get the ball rolling.

Break It Down Into Bite-Sized Pieces

Tending to financial well-being is definitely more feasible if you chunk things down. By following these tips and committing to an hour or two a month to organize your finances, you’ll be on your way to forming better money habits.

9 Ways to Pay off Your Debt in 30 Days

By Brian Acton

January 24, 2019

Paying off large debts usually requires a long-term game plan. But just a couple of easy steps can help you pay off your smaller debts in a short time frame. Want to buckle down and eliminate debt quickly? Here are nine ways to pay off your debt in 30 days or less.

1. Set a realistic goal

Most people can’t reasonably expect to quickly pay off a mortgage or new car loan. To eliminate a debt in 30 days, you’ll need to pick one you can realistically pay off. Look for a small credit card balance or a loan that’s approaching a zero balance.

2. Use the ‘snowball method’

With the snowball method of debt repayment, you focus on paying off your smallest loans first, working in order of smallest to largest. You make minimum payments on your other debts, and make larger payments on the smallest debt until it’s paid off. Successfully paying off a smaller debt will provide you with a psychological boost and free up a little extra monthly cash to put toward the next smallest debt.

Another strategy is to focus on debts with the highest interest rates first, as that will save you more money in the long run — though this strategy is a longer-term debt repayment method.

3. Go on a 30 day spending diet

Just like extreme food diets, spending diets are tough to maintain for a long time. But slashing your spending for 30 days is achievable, and you’ll free up extra cash to put toward your debt.

Analyze your current budget and spending habits, and look for every opportunity to cut expenses. You could cook all your meals at home instead of dining out, watch Netflix instead of going to the movies or take public transportation instead of driving or hailing cabs. At the end of the 30 day period, all the money you saved should be put toward your debt.

4. Stop using your credit card

If you’re trying to pay off a credit card balance in 30 days, it’s common sense to temporarily stop using it. But you should avoid making too many purchases on any other credit cards you own, or you’ll end up with a different credit card balance to pay down. This philosophy applies to other debts, too.

Once your credit card is paid off, you may be tempted to close it. But unless you can’t trust yourself to responsibly manage your credit card, you’re better off leaving it open to boost your credit score. (Here are 7 other credit myths, debunked.)

Remember, the best way to use a credit card is to only make purchases you can afford to pay off in full each month.

5. Find extra sources of income

Finding an extra source of income for at least 30 days can help you earn cash for debt repayment. You could teach music lessons, tutor kids, mow lawns or drive for Uber. All the extra income you earn should go directly to your debt.

6. Redeem your cash back

If you have a stack of points or cash back rewards in your credit card account, now could be the right time to redeem them. You may be able to put your rewards directly toward your credit card balance, or cash out the rewards and use the funds for debt repayment.

7. Make extra payments

This may sound obvious, but you should consider making extra payments throughout the 30 day time period as cash flow allows. Saving up your extra cash for 30 days for a one-time payment leaves you at risk of spending it elsewhere. Instead, make payments as soon as extra cash comes in.

8. Get a debt consolidation loan

Debt consolidation loans can help you roll multiple debts into a single, manageable loan with a potentially lower interest rate. It’s a good strategy if you have trouble keeping track of your payments, or have several high-interest debts. This may not help you pay off your debt in 30 days, but you could get a lower interest rate and zero out your balance with your current creditors.

9. Open a balance transfer card

If your current credit card’s interest rate is making it difficult to pay off, you may want to consider a balance transfer card. Balance transfer cards will let you transfer your existing credit card balances to a new card with a lower interest rate – many cards offer 0% APR for introductory periods of 12 months or more. This strategy also might not allow you to pay off your debt quickly, but you will eliminate the balance on your high-interest cards.

6 Apps That Will Help You Be Better With Money Next Year

By Susan Shain

January 1, 2019

Do you want to “be better with money” in the new year? Welcome to the club.

This resolution is understandably popular — and also tough to achieve. So whether you want to save more money or finally pay off your debt, you’re going to need something that keeps you on task. Something like an app.

While Mint and You Need a Budget are great starting points, they’re far from the only financial apps available. Here are 6 more innovative apps that could transform your relationship with money.

Joy

When you think about personal finance, “joy” probably isn’t the first emotion you feel. But Joy wants to change that. It uses psychology, data and neuroscience to help “you make smarter spending decisions over time.”

After signing up, you’ll complete a science-based assessment that determines your money personality. The app will then assign you an AI-powered “money coach” who offers tips for changing your financial behavior.

Whenever you make a purchase, Joy will prompt you to rate it as a “happy spend” or a “sad spend.” The goal is for you is to examine which expenditures bring fulfillment to your life (and which don’t.) In addition, the app will analyze your finances to find a “safe” amount of money to save each day.

In a review for MagnifyMoney, Brittney Laryea writes that, while she didn’t save much money overall, the app “forced me to get face-to-face with my spending habits and and decide if they (really) made me ‘happy,’ or, um … not so happy.”

Chime

It sends instant alerts whenever your debit card is used, plus you’ll get daily notifications that help you keep track of your balance. If your card goes missing, you can block transactions with a simple toggle.

You can also deposit checks through the app — and if you use direct deposit, you can even get your paychecks two days early. Like all Chime products, including it’s peer-to-peer payment features are totally free.

In a review of the app, Kate Pav says: “Best bank I’ve ever had… You can send money to friends no hassle. You can message them back and forth in the app with quick response. And who doesn’t love getting paid early?!”

Credit Karma

Your credit scores are vital to so many different parts of your life: They help you get loans, apartments, mortgages, and even jobs. So, it’s no surprise that monitoring and improving your credit is key to getting a handle on your money.

To start tracking your credit scores, download the Credit Karma app (iOS/Android), which has a clean and comprehensive interface. The app also monitors your personal information, alerting you to any suspicious activity and potential data breaches.

“I regularly use Credit Karma because its consolidates all your credit information into one easy-to-use free app,” says Lou Haverty, a chartered financial analyst and founder of Financial Analyst Insider.

Charlie

Although Charlie isn’t technically an app, it works in similar ways. Instead of downloading software, you’ll sign up for the service via text message or Facebook Messenger.

Then, after connecting it to your bank accounts, this AI-powered money manager will take care of the rest. Its slew of services includes:

Analyzing spending and recurring charges

Negotiating bills

Helping you save for goals

Alerting you of expenses and fees

For example, it might remind you of an upcoming bill, or it might share real-time, data-based observations about your financial habits. You can even ask the platform questions like, “How much have I spent on groceries this month?” and receive an immediate answer.

“It’s given me great insight I would have never been able to tease out of my banking info,” writes Sasha Wilson in a TrustPilot review. “And it has given me clarity on how to improve my daily financial performance.”

Honeyfi

If you’re in a relationship, Honeyfi might be the app for you. It’s targeted specifically to couples — and the unique challenges of managing money with another person.

Once you and your partner sync your accounts, the app automatically suggests a household budget based on your spending history. Going forward, you can tag transactions as “yours,” “mine,” or “ours,” and write comments for your sweetheart to see. If you want to keep certain elements of your finances separate, that’s totally fine; you choose how much you want to share.

“I especially recommend this app for partners trying to keep (a) budget and hold each other accountable,” writes reviewer Kyle Conniff. “It is really helping us be more transparent with each other, and keep us both on the same page financially.”

Wealthfront

Are you ready to start investing in your future? Cough, retirement, cough?

Then check out Wealthfront, a robo-adviser that helps you plan, track, and manage your investments. (Full disclosure: I sometimes write for Wealthfront’s website, but am not being paid to recommend it here.)

The app offers a holistic view of your finances. Once you sync your accounts, it will calculate how much you must save to achieve your financial goals. It will then recommend the right investment accounts for each goal, and help you open and manage them.

“Wealthfront is a really innovative platform that brings some of the latest algorithmically-based technology to smaller investors,” says Haverty.

“It offers a really nice combination of budgeting combined with goal setting, as well as low-cost investing.”

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